Site stoush fractures Brisbane Olympic Games harmony

The facade of co-operation between the Queensland government and the council over the planning for Brisbane’s 2032 Olympics has been shattered.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk, left, Brisbane Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner and AOC president John Coates in Tokyo last week. Picture: AFP

The facade of co-operation between the Queensland government and the council over the planning for Brisbane’s 2032 Olympics has been shattered with the state treasurer calling out the lord mayor over plans to transform an inner-city industrial site into a Games venue.

But Cameron Dick’s criticism of Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner was at odds with his own government’s submission to the International Olympic Committee, which outlines plans to acquire the glass factory in South Brisbane.

Mr Schrinner on Monday said discussions were already under way with the owners of the site to purchase it and transform the land into a temporary International Broadcast Centre for the Games.

After 2032, the venue would be repurposed into parkland similar to that in nearby South Bank which Mr Schrinner said would contribute to the Games’ legacy.

Mr Dick rejected the plan on Tuesday, saying the state government would not agree to it because it would send “the wrong signal” and put workers at the factory out of a job.

“I think (Mr Schrinner) is getting a little bit ahead of himself,” Mr Dick told ABC Radio.

“None of this has been agreed to by the federal and state government. This is a working site with working men and women there.

“We will not be doing anything as a state government to put those people out of work.

“We need more jobs not less and the state government won’t be doing anything to jeopardise those jobs.

“It’s just something we’re not coming into at this stage.”

Mr Dick said the joint organisational committee needed to work out the order of projects.

The negotiations between the council and the site owner could include a transition arrangement where the factory could continue production until its owners were ready to move.

Mr Schrinner, who is in hotel quarantine on the same floor as Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk after they returned from Tokyo, defended the move on Tuesday, saying Mr Dick’s criticism appeared to reject the government’s own deal with the IOC.

“All three levels of government agreed some time ago that the International Broadcast Centre would be located on this site,” Mr Schrinner said. “Details about this were published by the International Olympic Committee’s Future Host Commission weeks ago and now it’s part of the deal that secured the Olympic and Paralympic Games for Brisbane.

“The state treasurer is now at odds with his own government.”

Mr Schrinner accused Mr Dick of “petty politicking”, which threatened the vaunted bipartisan relationship between the federal, state and local governments that won the support of the IOC.

“I suspect he’s a bit embarrassed that his government didn’t have the money to deliver this great asset for Queensland and the Schrinner Council has had to step in to get the job done,” he said.

“As every Brisbane resident knows, property prices aren’t getting cheaper so it would be irresponsible to sit back and wait to purchase this property, as suggested by Treasurer Dick.

“If we did nothing, this would create uncertainty for this business and uncertainty for workers, which is unacceptable. We have 11 years before the Games, which means arrangements can potentially be worked out to allow the operator to continue on the site for years while they develop their plans to relocate, evolve and grow the business.”

Plans to evolve this industrial strip along the banks of the Brisbane River have been talked about for years and were raised in 2012 by Labor premier Anna Bligh.